A Foxy Marine
by MangaFreak15
Summary: Naruto never got the chance to become a genin. Instead, he is whisked away from the Elemental Nations by a man named Monkey D. Garp, and forced to become his apprentice. Look out world; Uzumaki D. Naruto has arrived.
1. Chapter 1: The Marine and the Brat

**Summary: **Naruto never got the chance to become a genin. Instead, he is whisked away from the Elemental Nations by a man named Monkey D. Garp, and forced to become his apprentice. Look out world; Uzumaki D. Naruto has arrived.

**Note: **Naruto is a little more intelligent and snarky in this fic compared to canon.

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><p><strong>A FOXY MARINE<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter One - The Marine and the Brat<strong>

The forest was a dark, but soothing sanctuary where a pleasant silence hung in the air. Soft moonlight sprinkled through the thick canopies, creating bright, irregular shapes on the forest ground. It was a perfect place for the young blonde to take a rest, and for him to peek inside the supposed Forbidden Scroll.

Naruto nestled himself into a small groove between two roots that snaked up out of the soil. With his back firmly supported by the solid tree trunk, he tucked the scroll between his legs, unraveling part of it to examine what dangerous techniques could be hidden within it. The moonlight spilling into the clearing was enough to light up the words inside the scroll, revealing the very first technique to Naruto's eager eyes: the Kage Bunshin. It required the user to contain a large reserve of chakra, for these clones were not mere illusions; they were real, solid, living clones who were capable of retaining their own memories, thoughts, and emotions. The reason why it was considered a forbidden technique to the village of Konoha was because the clones were easily dispersed if they took a single hit. If multiple clones were destroyed at once, the user would be bombarded with all their memories at once, and that could cause the user to quickly lose sanity of the mind.

Naruto frowned. This technique would be an awesome asset to his meager jutsu pool, but he was terrible at creating clones. Whenever he tried, they would always come out sickly, deformed, mutated, or otherwise just plain useless. It frustrated him to no end because clones were part of a ninja's basic skill range, yet if he couldn't create a single one, how could he call himself a proud shinobi of Konoha? He took a look at the hand seal needed to perform the jutsu, nodded once to himself when he realized he could do it, and set the scroll to the side so he could get up and try it out.

Taking a deep breath, he crossed his fingers and whispered, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

To his delight, five identical copies of himself appeared in front of him, all wearing the same, hideous orange jumpsuit and all sporting the same shit-eating grin as the one currently spreading across his face. He leapt up, punching his fist into the air. "Yes! I finally created some decent clones!" he crowed, high-fiving his clones as they all danced around the clearing.

They were completely unprepared for a sudden, loud voice that boomed from seemingly nowhere, "That was a great trick, boy!"

Naruto spun around, wide blue eyes alighting on a large, gray-haired old man who just stepped out from the shadows of the trees, hands tucked into the pockets on his coat. He warily backed away from the grinning old man, standing possessively in front of the Forbidden Scroll in case the man tried to steal it. "Who are you?" he yelled. He and his clones took up a fighting stance, ready to defend their treasure from this man.

Naruto watched in confusion as the man's grin grew until it was nearly splitting his face in half. "Me? Why, there's no need for a youngster like you to know that right now, but I've decided! You shall become my apprentice!" exclaimed the man. Naruto stared at him, too shocked by the sudden declaration to object. "Come now, let's get you started immediately."

Naruto snapped out of his shock-induced trance. "No way, old man," he said. "I don't even know you. You're probably not a ninja, so why should I listen to you?"

The man loudly guffawed. Naruto felt his cheeks redden in embarrassment, so he attempted to rectify the situation, and thereby made it worse. "N-no! I meant that I only want to become an apprentice to a real shinobi!" he stammered. The man continued to laugh. "Hey, old man! Stop laughing!"

The old man's loud, heaving chuckles finally dwindled, leaving a red-faced Naruto to stare angrily at the dirt below his feet because he was unable to get the man to stop laughing. He really didn't get what was so funny - honestly! Was it something that he said? Naruto wracked his memory in search of what he first said that made the man break out into a laughing fit in the first place. Fortunately, his mind was able to supply him with the answer, but he still didn't understand why the man found it as amusing as he did.

"Old man," muttered Naruto in an annoyed tone, catching the man's attention, "what do you want with me?"

The old man beamed at him. "You are going to be my apprentice!" he declared again. "Let's go now." Before Naruto could protest, the man grabbed his arm in a strong, vice-like grip and literally dragged him along through the forest. His clones attempted to rescue him, but they were all destroyed by the old man's "fist of love." After a few minutes of futile struggling and shouting, Naruto gave up trying to get the man to let him go and just let himself be pulled along. He didn't even recognize his surroundings anymore; they were probably too far from Konoha by now for him to escape and return to the walls of his home.

"Old man, what's your name?" asked Naruto, unwilling to allow himself to be kidnapped like this without knowing his captor's name. At least the old man seemed nice.

"I am Garp!" announced the man boisterously. "And you? How old are you anyway?"

"You kidnapped me without -" Naruto half-shrieked.

"I did not kidnap you, brat!" boomed the man, coming to an abrupt halt and smashing Naruto's face into the nearest tree. "Call it 'borrowing'!"

"Ouch! What the hell?" howled Naruto, clutching his nose as he fell back from the tree. He glared at Garp, blinking away the tears that involuntarily welled up at the corners of his eyes. "What was that for? That really hurt, you know!"

"That's why I did it!" said Garp. "I will not have a weakling for an apprentice, but young sprouts like you must learn to be strong!"

"I have to learn to be strong by allowing you to slam my face into the nearest solid surface?" deadpanned Naruto, narrowing his blue eyes at the old man. "No thanks, old man." He got up steadily, dusting off his battered orange suit. Garp frowned when he realized what exactly Naruto was wearing. It was a bright orange jumpsuit with a few patches of dark blue and white fluff, but overall it was so orange that it was an eyesore. He vowed to purchase his new apprentice more suitable clothes once they arrived at their destination.

"You never answered me, brat," he said, briskly trotting off again. "What's your name and how old are you?"

"So demanding, old man," muttered Naruto. "Fine, have it your way! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, twelve-year old super ninja, and the future Hokage!"

Garp stroked his chin thoughtfully as the two of them made their way through the forest. "So you're twelve. Perfect!" he said, clapping the young blonde heartily on the back, forgetting his own strength while doing so and thus sent the pre-teen tumbling to the ground in an undignified fashion. He shot back up, looking indignant. "But so you know, you probably won't be returning to this place, so you can't be the Hokage, whatever that is."

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, wide blue eyes jumping to the man. He was horrified. "What!" he yelled, Garp's words hitting him like a ton of falling bricks. "But -"

"No 'but's, Naruto!" said Garp. "You are my apprentice now, and you will not be seeing this place for a long time. I do hope you aren't going to try and run away." Here he sent a sidelong glance to the boy, a subtle hint of danger and future pain glinting in his steely eyes. Naruto bit his lip.

"N-no!" he replied, backing away from the old man. "I'm not going to be your apprentice, I'm going to be a ninja, the best in the world! I'm going to become the Hokage!"

"Brat!" roared Garp, reeling his fist back and striking Naruto in the gut. The young blonde fell over, gasping as the wind was knocked straight out of him. He curled into a ball on the ground, clutching his throbbing abdomen. That hurt. A lot. Maybe being an apprentice wouldn't be so bad if he could learn to punch like this…

Garp pulled him up and slung him over his left shoulder. Then he continued on through the forest, uncaring if he accidentally jostled Naruto on his way. The kid had to learn to take hard hits without flinching, after all. It was alright, the kid was only twelve. _Hopefully,_ Garp mused, _he will actually become a true Marine._ Already his seven-year old grandson Luffy was spouting nonsense about wanting to become a pirate, thanks to that no-good, red-haired moron of a pirate named Shanks. Well! He would pound the rules of Marines into the brat's head sooner or later.

Naruto greatly disliked having to stare at the man's backside, but couldn't exactly do anything when he was carried like a sack of potatoes over the man's shoulder. Having been left to his own thoughts, Naruto began to weigh the pros and cons of becoming this man's apprentice instead of becoming a shinobi.

First of all, Garp could punch like a maniac, and Naruto could tell that he was holding back. Insanity. But ninjas, especially the super strong ones like the old man Hokage, could create tidal waves and mountains and fire and all sorts of awesome jutsu like that. Second, if he went with Garp to become his apprentice, he might never know what that weird seal on his stomach meant. Third, what exactly was the man anyway? He wasn't a ninja from the way he dressed, but he definitely wasn't a civilian from the way he punched. Could he be… a spy? No, that's not right. The man was too loud and right-in-your-face to be a spy.

"Oi, Naruto." The sound of Garp's voice brought Naruto out of his thoughts. "Now, since you are going to be my apprentice, there are some things you should know."

"I figured as much," quipped Naruto dryly.

Naruto felt Garp's shoulders shake as the man let loose more boisterous laughter. "You're cheeky, boy. That's good, as long as it's not directed towards me. I'll let that one slide, but don't be snarky with me again," he said.

Naruto rolled his eyes, even though he knew the man couldn't see them. "Yes, sir," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Brat!" And once again, Naruto found himself being acquainted with the ground. He smirked into the dirt. Hell, if he was forced to become this man's apprentice, he might as well make the best of it - look out, old man, the prankster is back in business!

"So," he began, "what were you going to tell me?"

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><p>"Is this…"<p>

"That's right!"

"Am I…?"

"Of course!"

"…"

"What? Aren't you even the least bit excited?"

"But it's… it's _huge_…"

"What did you expect?"

"Well…"

Come to think of it, he hadn't exactly expected something like this. Naruto stared at the sight before him. Garp grinned widely beside him. They both stood on a long wooden dock, damp from sea spray, its underbelly and supports covered with odd-looking shells that Garp called 'barnacles'. And just a few yards away, bobbing gently up and down on the water, was a massive ship with a dog's head as the ship's figurehead. On the side of the ship, 'MARINE' was labeled in white letters, the letters broken apart by the row of cannons positioned on the side of the ship. The wooden masts stretched high to the sky, large white sails with blue seagulls painted on them spanning over half the masts.

"So if I go on this ship with you, I'll officially be a… a Marine?" asked Naruto hesitantly.

"Correct! As my apprentice, you will be expected to complete many arduous tasks to build up your strength," said Garp. "We won't be heading back to the Marine Headquarters yet, though. We'll be stopping at an island so I can check up on two other brats who are younger than you."

"I'm not a brat," said Naruto indignantly. "Stop calling me that!"

"I'll call you whatever I want to… brat," said Garp, chuckling when Naruto stuck his tongue out in a display of childishness.

"Sir!" a man in a white and blue sailor's uniform leaned over the side of the ship called down to them. "We are ready to sail."

"Excellent!" said Garp. "Come on, Naruto."

The sailors watched curiously as their captain brought a small, young, blond boy in a bright orange jumpsuit aboard the ship. "Listen up, everyone!" proclaimed Garp loudly to the sailors. He grasped the boy by the shoulders. "This kid is my new apprentice! His name is Uzumaki Naruto, and until we disembark at Fuchsia, he will be working amongst yourselves. Treat him with respect! Oh, and get him some suitable clothes; that jumpsuit is hideous."

"Hey! It was cheap," protested Naruto.

"Cheap or not, it makes you look like an eyesore," said Garp, pushing him forward. Naruto stumbled a bit, but managed to right himself before he accidentally knocked one of his shipmates over. "Let's go, men!"

One of the sailors came forward, lightly putting his hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Come on, I'll try to find you a uniform," he said, leading Naruto to the rooms below the deck.

Luckily, there were a few extra pairs of uniform that Naruto could wear. They were slightly baggy on him, seeing as he was a short, scrawny twelve-year old in a man's outfit, and the pant legs had to be rolled up a little, but they fit. He was brought back up to the deck, where Garp approached him and dismissed the sailor who had helped him.

"Naruto. I can tell you have a lot of potential," said Garp. "I want you to add the letter 'D' to your name, as your middle initial."

"Why?" asked Naruto, gazing suspiciously at the old man, who appeared to be serious for once.

"Not many people know what the 'D' stands for, sometimes not even the people who carry the initial themselves. But I'll tell you now, that 'D' stands for 'danger,'" said Garp. "If you choose to take on this initial, you will carry the Will of D. It is important for you to decide, for if you choose to carry on the name, I will personally make sure that you do not tarnish it. Understand, Naruto?"

Naruto nodded. "It's all clear," he said. "I don't really get what's so important about it, but I'm going to be your apprentice, right? Might as well."

Garp beamed at him. "So what do you think? Will you take the name and carry on the Will of D?" he asked. The youth thought about it for a few moments.

"Uzumaki 'danger' Naruto," tested Naruto. He grinned foxily. "Sounds good! I'll take it, old man -"

Garp promptly cracked him over the head with his fist. Simultaneously, the nearby sailors gasped when Naruto showed their captain such blatant disrespect by calling him "old man."

"Ouch!" Naruto knelt on the wooden deck, clutching at his head where a sizeable bump was visible. "Damn it, old man, that _hurt_ -" _Wham!_

"Show some respect to your elders!" roared Garp as he towered over the curled up form of his apprentice, who now sported two large bumps on his head. Naruto wisely chose not to say anything else that would earn him a third bump. One was plenty, two was just as painful. As Garp walked to another part of the ship, on the lookout for stray pirates who happened to come too close, he allowed himself to remain curled up on the deck until the pain began to ebb away.

"Hey, new boy," came a voice. Naruto uncurled from his ball and looked up at the sailor leaning over him. "The vice-admiral wants you. He's at the stern." Then the sailor left to return to his ship duties.

Naruto slowly got to his feet, still nursing the tender spots on his head, and made his way to the back of the ship. There, he found Garp staring out into the sea, seemingly lost in thought. He stood next to the man, squinting his eyes to see if Garp was really looking at something in the distance rather than immersing himself in his thoughts. When it appeared that there was nothing but blue sea all around, he turned to ask Garp what he wanted him for.

"Naruto."

The blonde blinked as Garp spoke. "What?" slipped out of his mouth.

"I will be leaving you on Fuchsia for a year, so you can get acquainted with my grandsons," said Garp. "They are younger than you, but I want you to practice your fighting skills with them. I'll warn you now that one of them has eaten a Devil Fruit, but he hasn't been able to control his powers yet. I want you to help him with that. This will be your first official mission as my new apprentice."

"Wait a minute, I have to babysit your grandkids?" shouted Naruto.

"It's not 'babysitting'!" said Garp, lightly punching his apprentice over the head. "Ace is ten and Luffy is seven. I'm sure you'll get along fine with them."

"Fine," sulked Naruto.

"Oh, and I'll be starting your training tomorrow, so be prepared to wake up at dawn."

"Whatever you say, old ma- um, Garp-sensei. Wait, dawn!"

"That's what I said, unless you want me to start your training here and now?" asked Garp, his voice dropping to a low and menacing tone. Naruto shook his head rapidly, reminded of Garp's powerful fists. The man smiled widely and clapped Naruto on the back. "Good choice! Now, go clean the whole deck. It's looking a bit dirty. Oh, and you have to do it by yourself."

"WHAT!"

And so begins a new life for one Uzumaki Naruto.

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><p><strong>Uh, hey guys. Yes, I know you all want to murder me right now, I can feel the heat of your glares, but the plot bunnies attacked me again. This is the result. So far I haven't read any other fic that was started this way, so I thought I could try to make this work. Haha… uh, no flames please. Tell me what you think in a proper review, or give me some constructive criticism about things I could have improved on.<strong>

**Not sure about update speed, you guys know how I am…**

**MangaFreak15**


	2. Chapter 2: Naruto Meets the Munchkins

**Like, OMG. You guys are awesome. This fic got 25 reviews for the first chapter, surpassing a lot of my other recent stories. 8D**

**Status: 1 chapter, 25 reviews, 1156 hits, 53 favorites, and 52 alerts. **

**Summary: **Naruto never got the chance to become a genin. Instead, he is whisked away from the Elemental Nations by a man named Monkey D. Garp, and forced to become his apprentice. Look out world; Uzumaki D. Naruto has arrived.

**Note: **Naruto is a little more intelligent and snarky in this fic compared to canon.

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><p><strong>A FOXY MARINE<strong>

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><p><strong>Chapter Two - Naruto Meets the Munchkins<strong>

It was near to dawn, yet none of the Konoha shinobi, not even Iruka, had seen a single trace of the young cadet since they had been dispatched to track him down for breaking into the Hokage tower and stealing the Forbidden Scroll. It was worrisome, for both the Sandaime and Iruka. Though Naruto was excellent at keeping himself hidden until he wanted to be found, the boy would have shown himself by now - but what really sent the Academy instructor into a panicked frenzy was the fact that he had found the Forbidden Scroll in the forest, next to a large tree… without Naruto. When he informed the Sandaime of the troubling situation, the Hokage retrieved his mystical crystal ball and attempted to pinpoint the boy's location. And he failed.

In the chaos that followed afterwards, a team of Anbu was sent to search the surrounding forest for traces of Naruto's chakra. They found chakra residue in the clearing where the Forbidden Scroll had been found, indicating that a jutsu had been used here, but there were no other nearby trails that could tell them where Naruto had gone.

Next, the Hokage called in Kakashi and asked him to use his ninja dogs to track the boy through scent. The silver-haired man summoned Pakkun and explained the situation to him. Before the two went out, the Hokage had Iruka give them something with Naruto's scent on it.

They followed one of the Anbu to the clearing where they had sensed traces of chakra residue. Both Pakkun and Kakashi immediately picked up on Naruto's scent, and another one that mixed together with his. In the assumption that the blonde boy may have been kidnapped, the duo diligently followed the second scent, catching occasional bursts of Naruto's scent on the ground or the trees. At one point they came upon a faint imprint in the earth that could only be made when someone's face had been pressed into it. They began to work faster, hoping that they weren't too late.

The trail continued through the forests of Fire Country, heading in the direction of Wave Country. Kakashi had a sneaking suspicion that he knew where Naruto and his 'kidnapper' had been headed… to the place that not many ninja knew the entrance to, or even what the place was. To the Elemental Nations, it was simply known as the Outside. It was a lame name, Kakashi wholeheartedly agreed, but the ruling daimyo of the nations had coined the term, and therefore the name stuck. Kakashi himself had found the entrance completely on accident once, but knew he would not be able to cross the oceans without running out of chakra before he was halfway through, if the answers he received from incoming sailors were any indication. It was difficult to find the place anyway, and even harder to actually get into the Elemental Nations, which was why, one of the sailors explained, the World Government of the Outside hadn't managed to dig their greedy fingers into the nations yet.

Nonetheless, if Naruto had been taken to that place, then all hope was lost unless one of the shinobi was willing to brave the violent seas and unknown territory in order to locate and bring back one, young, blond boy. Was it worth it? Kakashi knew deep down that ultimately, the majority of Konoha would rejoice in the loss of the despicable "demon brat," and not even the Sandaime would be able to quell the loud cheers, victory dances, and endless celebrations in the streets. What was even worse was that in all that ruckus, a loose tongue might slip here and there, resulting in the next generation learning of the secret that not even Naruto himself knew! He did not know if there were any sensible minds in the next generation, but he hoped that they would not be as blind to the truth as their parents were.

After a long period of nonstop running across the country, they at last entered the secret entrance to the Outside. Naruto's scent and the kidnapper's ended at the very edge of one of the docks.

"We can't reach them now, Pakkun," sighed Kakashi, gazing out into the vast, wide sea. He could see the two separate channels connected to this area, one filled with perilous formations of jagged rock, and the other a flat, smooth channel of sparkling blue-green water with no hazardous obstacles of any sort. There were a couple of ships unloading their cargo at the port, men dressed in white and blue uniforms running around shouting and carrying out orders.

"That ocean would be a problem," grunted the little ninja dog. "What should we do now?"

"Let's head back. There is nothing more we can do here," said Kakashi. _Good luck, Naruto, wherever you are._

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><p>By the time the ship reached Fuchsia Island, Naruto was thoroughly convinced that Garp was a sneaky, conniving, manipulative, evil sonofabitch that liked to see him suffer. He had to do everything from cleaning the deck to cooking to doing laundry to learning how to clean, load, mount, and fire a cannon…in ten minutes. Garp always yelled at him to hurry up because he was too slow, and it seriously irritated him to no end when he couldn't do anything. If he tried, he'd earn himself a face full of "fist of love." Oh, the joys of apprenticeship.<p>

Of course, by the time they disembarked on the actual island, Naruto was about ready to drop dead from exhaustion. Hell, with Garp the Brutal Task Manager for a 'master,' Naruto was quickly becoming sure that he would have been better off staying in Konoha instead of slaving away like a dog on this ship of nightmares. And this man had _grandchildren?_ Lord help them!

"Naruto! Welcome to Fuchsia!" crowed Garp, dragging his half-dead apprentice off the ship. A few of the island's residents greeted him as he passed by, their curious eyes alighting on the odd blond boy in baggy Marine uniform being tugged around by the enthusiastic old man. Poor boy looked like he could use a good night's sleep at the moment; what did Garp do to him?

"Hello, Garp-san," said a pretty, young lady who came out of one of the taverns. "And who is this?" She knelt down beside the tired boy, who was unable to focus his gaze on her.

Garp grinned wolfishly. "That is Uzumaki Naruto!" he announced. "He is my new apprentice!"

Makino gave him a disapproving stare. "Apprentice or not, this boy doesn't look too good. Has he been getting any sleep at all?" she asked softly, tracing the circles under his eyes.

Garp scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, I have been keeping him up with manual labor to improve his strength and coordination," he replied, looking away innocently when Makino sent him a dark glare. "But he's my apprentice, he can handle it! Right, Naruto?"

Naruto barely had the strength to lift his head and glare at him accusingly. "Like you're one to talk, you stupid old man," he rasped. He was in serious need of sleep right now… maybe he should just sleep here and worry about the consequences later. That sounded like a great idea. His eyes drifted shut, and he was soon fast asleep on the ground.

Makino sighed. "Garp-san, I have an extra room at the back. He can sleep there instead of the dirt," she said, turning to walk back into the tavern. Garp grudgingly picked up his dozing apprentice and slung him over his back so that Naruto's arms dangled over his shoulders. After making sure Naruto wouldn't fall off, he followed Makino into the tavern.

When Naruto had been comfortably settled in, Makino decided to make small talk with the old Marine. "Garp-san, this boy… where did you find him? And why are these marks on his cheeks?" She traced the thin whisker lines. Although they looked like scars of some sort, she found that they fit the boy's image well. He had messy, spiky blond hair that barely fell past his eyes, which she had seen to be a lovely shade of blue. At present he was clad in a sailor uniform that seemed too big on him, for the shirt fell past his waist and the bottoms of the pant legs had been rolled up a few times so he didn't trip on them. Unlike the regular Marines that she had seen, he wore odd-looking, toeless blue sandals.

Garp rubbed his face as he thought about what to say. "Makino, have you ever heard of the Elemental Nations?" he asked quietly. The tavern keeper shot him a confused glance, then slowly shook her head. "Well, it's a tricky place to get to anyway. Naruto is from that place."

"He looks very young though… did his parents agree to let him go with you?" questioned Makino suspiciously.

Garp attempted to look innocent. "I just found him outside in one of the forests at night!" he defended. "He had a lot of untapped potential, I could see when he celebrated his success in creating five identical copies of himself -"

"You _kidnapped_ him? Garp-san!" admonished Makino. "What about his parents? What about his home? Oh, the poor dear." She gazed down at Naruto, who was still sleeping like a log. She brushed her pale fingers against his soft, tanned cheek. "And on top of that, you look like you worked him to the bone."

Garp harrumphed, crossing his arms over his chest. "I did _not_ kidnap him," he said crossly. "I 'borrowed' him." Makino gave him a fierce glare.

"You should send this boy home," she said. "How could you just take him and make him your apprentice?"

"I _said_ -"

Garp was interrupted when Naruto yawned, his sleepy eyes blinking open moments later. "Huh? Where am I?" he muttered, sitting up and stretching. His gaze landed on Garp, who grinned at him.

"You're awake, Naruto! Good, now I can take you to Dadan -" he began.

"Oh no, you won't!" exclaimed Makino. "You are going to take him back home where he belongs! Is that alright with you, dear? Your parents must be worried by now - " Garp didn't miss the dark look that flashed across his apprentice's face, gone the next second before Makino could see it.

"Yeah," agreed Naruto half-heartedly, plastering on a fake smile that didn't reach his eyes. "They must be worried about me. That guy -" Here, he pointed accusingly at Garp "-kidnapped me and didn't even get permission from the old man Hokage."

"That's what I thought!" said Makino brightly, clapping her hands together. "Then it's settled! You'll be going home, dear." For some reason Naruto didn't look as thrilled as she thought he would be. Unknown to Makino, Naruto was waging a mental war against himself: to stay or not? Would he rather go back to Konoha to face the glares and hateful stares, back to the place where he grew up, back to the village where he could become a real shinobi? Or would he rather stay here to grow up with this crazy man, to meet his grandkids, to explore this new world that was virtually clear of ninjas? Being the Hokage had been his dream for so long, but the main reason for that goal was because he wanted people to _acknowledge _him, not the monster that they saw him as. Honestly, he didn't even know what he had done to warrant their hatred towards him. Maybe it had to do with that strange seal on his stomach? But that wasn't the main issue here.

"Naruto, you're going to stay as my apprentice, right?" said Garp, grinning at him.

"Naruto, you're going to go back home, right?" said Makino simultaneously.

"I - I -" Naruto couldn't express his indecision in words. He really, really wanted to be a ninja, but he also wanted to see this world - the vast, endless seas that stretched far beyond the horizon. The sunsets were really quite beautiful here; in Konoha, they were difficult to see because of the forest and the buildings. He gulped, looking first at Makino, then switching to Garp. "I… I'll stay."

"But your parents-!" burst Makino. "What about your friends and -"

"Enough," cut in Garp, who had noticed the same dejected look glide across the blonde's face. "We must be off. Come, Naruto!" And despite the tavern keeper's protests, Naruto followed the old man out of the room. He felt bad for lying to Makino because she had been rather nice to him, but he didn't want her to pity him. It wasn't her fault that these things had happened to him, so he didn't want her to apologize for something that she had no hand in. It wouldn't be right.

As the duo made their way along the mountain path towards the mountain bandits' house where Ace and Luffy were currently residing, Garp decided that he needed a straight, honest answer from his apprentice. "Naruto," he said, catching the blonde's attention. "Tell me the truth. You're an orphan, aren't you?"

It was like triggering a gun. The moment Garp spoke those words, Naruto paled, his eyes growing wide with shock, and a little bit of fear. "H-how did you -" he stuttered.

"I saw that look in your eyes, when Makino was talking to you," replied Garp. "If you had been abused, you would have looked afraid. If your parents were dead, well - that's what you looked like."

Naruto was quiet, absorbing Garp's analysis. "I… actually don't know who my parents are," he said softly, completely opposite of the loud, rude boy that Garp had met. "I don't know if they're alive, or if they're dead. I grew up alone."

"Perhaps so, but you're not alone anymore!" said Garp, grabbing Naruto in a headlock and giving him a noogie. Naruto squirmed in his grasp at the mildly painful sensation, arms and legs flailing to get the man to let him go. When Garp released his headlock, Naruto scowled at him.

"You messed up my hair, old man!" he whined, running his fingers through his blond locks to get them back to their previous spiky state.

Garp snorted. "Don't complain!" he said. "Besides, it was already a mess when I got to it."

"Nuh-uh!" accused Naruto. "They were perfect spikes! Now it feels like a bird's nest." He shook his head back and forth quickly to help his hair spring back to the way it was before Garp noogied him. When he looked up, Garp had already started walking again without him. "Hey! Wait up, old ma - OUCH!"

"I told you not to call me that!"

Despite exchanging playful banter for the rest of the way up, Naruto's heart had considerably lightened with the knowledge that for once, he wasn't seen as a monster, an idiot, or a screw-up that played pranks all day. Even if he was forced into apprenticeship under this crazy old man, he thought it might be worth it (well, maybe not the chores he had to do). He smiled. He couldn't wait to meet Ace and Luffy.

* * *

><p>Well.<p>

It turns out that Ace and Luffy had another friend named Sabo who also stayed with them in the home of Dadan the mountain bandit. And despite it being three little brats against a full-grown man, all three of them were easily overpowered and beaten by Garp's powerful fists. Naruto stayed hidden in the shadows and snickered quietly to himself as he watched. He also took the time to observe the way that Garp punched, making little notes to himself so he could come up with new evasion tactics later.

When the three kids had been beaten into the ground, too exhausted to get up and fight anymore (not even Luffy, the one with a seemingly limitless supply of energy, could), Naruto finally made his presence known.

He stepped forward, clapping slowly to increase the tension. "Well, old man, you really did a number on them," he said jokingly, a foxy grin stretching across his youthful face. He waved at the three kids, who shot up and stared at him with dumbstruck faces.

"Who are you?" asked the freckled boy rudely. "I've never seen you before."

Garp grinned, one of his large hands coming down to rest on Naruto's right shoulder. "This boy is my new apprentice! Say hello, Naruto!" he said.

Naruto beamed at the flabbergasted children. "Yo! My name's Uzumaki D. Naruto. Nice to meet you!" he said. "Now, don't let my title of 'apprentice' fool you. I didn't ask for it, this guy kidnapped me and brought me on his ship -"

"I only _borrowed_ you, brat!"

"Shut up! Admit it, old man, you kidnapped me!" shouted Naruto back to Garp. "Anyways, just giving you a heads up on why I'm here. The old man is going to leave me here so I can train with you guys for a year. And I'm supposed to help - Luffy, was it? - control his new powers."

"Oh, that's me!" exclaimed the little boy in the straw hat. He bounded over to the blonde and immediately jumped up and down in front of him despite the fact that Garp had beat the crap out of him barely three minutes ago. "So how old are you, huh? Do you have any awesome super cool powers that I can see?"

"Well… I can make clones of myself," said Naruto, scratching the back of his head. "Want to see?" He suppressed a smirk when the other two kids leaned forward in interest, curiosity evident in their eyes.

"Yeah!" said Luffy, a wide grin spreading across his childish face.

"Well, here goes…" Naruto formed the hand seal for the Kage Bunshin, took a deep breath, and _concentrated._

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Ten solid clones of Naruto popped into existence, completely identical from the wayward spikes of their sunny blond hair to the tips of their blue, open-toed sandals. Naruto grinned, apparently satisfied, at his awestruck audience. "Awesome, right?" he said mock-arrogantly.

"COOL!" screamed Luffy, running up to one of the clones and beginning to poke it in various places to reassure himself that these identical copies were real. To his surprise, the clone bent down and swiftly picked him up, swinging him around a few times to make him laugh, and then set him back down. Naruto eyed Ace and Sabo as they moved forward cautiously as well, to examine the clones.

"Come on, guys," said Naruto. "They aren't gonna bite, you know."

Ace reached a clone first. He stared at it, realizing that the clone wasn't much taller than him. "Hey, you never told us how old you were," he said, turning to look at the real Naruto. "And where did you come from? This isn't a Devil Fruit power, is it?"

Naruto shifted sheepishly. "Ah, well, I'm twelve," he said. "As for where I came from, well… let's just say that it's really far away, and it doesn't have any Devil Fruits." The kids nodded, realizing that he didn't want to talk about it. So they changed topics.

"You're twelve, huh?" said Ace. He smirked. "For twelve, you're pretty short -"

"Shut up!"

Garp's bellowing laughter rang in the background.

* * *

><p><strong>It's over, it's done. I'm freeee… not really. Man, the Konoha part was a BITCH to write, I don't know why but it gave me a hell of a hard time. Well, Naruto meets the Troublesome Trio. The whole Sabo-tragedy arc will probably be split into two separate chapters, but I haven't decided yet. So, what did you guys think? I know, this chapter was kind of boring, but please tell me. No flames.<strong>

**On another note, reviewers have asked whether this will be NaruxHarem or have a yaoi pairing. The answer is… NEITHER. I know some of you are aware that I am a big, fat yaoi fan, but this fic is definitely not going in that direction. The only kind of NaruxHarem that I'll probably do is the kind where Naruto charms the women, but doesn't like, fall in love with them or have sex with every woman he meets. He's pretty oblivious in canon, so I'd like to keep it close to that, but not quite. I don't have an official pairing for this story either, since it is geared more towards the adventure side and not the background romance.**

**And as for Devil Fruits and haki and Cipher Pol moves, Naruto will NOT have a Devil Fruit, but he may potentially gain usage of haki and some of the Cipher Pol moves (think in terms of how Coby flourished in the series). I won't put any emphasis on that though, since Naruto still retains his knowledge of chakra and jutsu and all that, and I intended to experiment with that.**

**Till next time!**

**MangaFreak15**


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